The Paracosm of Naruto Uzumaki
by hackerkiba
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki possessed the power of bicosm, the ability to live two lives at once, but two separate world. He will use his power to change the destiny of the ninja world by reaching out to the stars.
1. Confusion

_Evidence of Naruto's bicosm emerged early in his life, but it was mistakenly diagnosed as paracosm, in which a person possessed a vivid imagination of a detailed fictional world. Before Naruto Uzumaki, there was no such precedence in the medical science that an individual can experience two lives at once. There have been no recorded cases ever found in the Alteran, Asgardian, or the Nox database. As such, Naruto Uzumaki remains the only case of biocosm in scientific history_. - Wikipedia entry excerpt on Naruto Uzumaki

+-+  
**Konoha Ninja Academy**  
**Konoha, PX-615**

The playground of the Konoha Ninja Academy was completely silent, and not for the lack of children either. Rather, the children stood deadly still around an invisible circle, casting their sights on the four in the middle. One blonde-haired boy with whisker marks glared across at three bigger boys. The blonde scrunched up his face, while the trio smugly smiled.

"Your father must not care a lot about you," a bully taunted. "After all, nobody likes you."

Naruto Uzumaki's hands coiled into fists. His muscles tensed, ready to strike.

"Hell, your mom must be a whore!"

"My mom is NOT A whore!" the blond boy exploded. "And my father is always on missions. His name is Minato Namikaze and he's going to be the best soldier in the galaxy, just like General Jack O'Neill. BELIEVE IT!"

The bully and friends simply stared at him. They had no understanding of what the latter half meant, but it sounded good nonetheless.

Finally, one of them spoke up, "What's a galaxy? Who's Minato Namikaze?" Suddenly, all the tension in the world broke. Instead of the fight they were looking for, the children were overcame with intense curiosity.

"Wait a minute, you don't know what a galaxy is?" Naruto asked in confusion, scratching his head. The children shook their head. Didn't everyone know what a galaxy is? But at least they aren't dissing his mother anymore. "A galaxy is a..."

Nearby in a tree, an ANBU took note of the unusual conversation. The ninja silently scribbled down every single word. Naruto defused the fight on his own, which preempted the "teacher appearance by coincidence" method of conflict resolution. That was notable in itself. What he didn't get is the content of the impromtous question and answer section. It sounded like cosmology, yet it isn't. But that isn't his job to evacuate. The Hokage will do that.

+-+  
**Hokage Tower**  
**Konoha, PX-615**

Paperwork. It's the bane of rulers, generals, and CEOs alike. Even the Kages of the elemental nations are not immune to the scourge. Thus, In the hokage's office, the professor, the "God of Shinobi", the Sandaime Hokage, or simply Hiruzen Sarutobi, leafed through the ANBU paperwork, sorting them by importance or interests.

Suddenly, a report, entitled [i]Naruto Unusual Activity Report[/i], grabbed his attention. Naruto's mental stability, or lack thereof is of paramount importance to village and Fire country security. He stopped his sorting task and picked up the report for reading.

A few minutes later after reading the transcript, the leader began pacing around the office. What Naruto said in that playground was very interesting, novel and strange. For example, galaxies are a collection of stars, and stars are literally other suns, and that people live on worlds called planets! What kind of nonsense is that, the kage didn't know. Honestly, it sounded like something suitable for a fantasy novel.

But where the boy obtained these strange set of ideas? The name "Jack O'Neill" certainly sounds like a foreigner, and this general title is equivalent to a Kage. Maybe the boy got the name from a traveling merchant who traded in far-away lands. That would explain it, but the ANBU never reported him anywhere near a merchant, much less a store. However, it was very much possible Naruto met one when the ANBU weren't looking or when his mother took him out of town.

Nevertheless, the ideas Naruto presented intrigued the Hokage, for sheer novelty alone. Sarutobi will pay personally for genin teams to ask merchants for stories about other lands and the strange ideas and tales they carried. It'll be E-rank.

But one thing above all, occupied his mind, that is the name "Minato Namikaze". It wasn't about Naruto's claim that the fourth was the boy's father, though Naruto talked as if he wasn't the fourth. It's more to do with the fact that the Uzumaki boy looked like Namikaze. Kushina had never told him who the father is. For all he knew, the father was an anonymous deadbeat. But if Kushina's son is the fourth's progency, he wanted to know why she kept it a secret, even from him.

"Cat, summon Kushina Uzumaki to my office at her convenience before the work day is out," Hiruzen commanded. A rush of air filled the office, signaling to the Hokage that the ANBU operative had left the tower.

+-+  
**Uzumaki Household**  
**Konoha, PX-615**

"Shadow clone techniques!" a red haired woman yelled. Several clones of the woman popped into existence. It is not strictly necessary to say the name of the technique, but she loves doing it anyway.

"Boss lady, ready for orders!" the clones shouted in unison. The original handed out loose papers with TODO items to each of the clones. After reading their list, they set out to work on household chores. Satisfied that the household chores are going to be completed in no time at all, she smiled.

"Alright, time to go to Konoha Academy!" But before she can set out on her journey to pick up her son, Cat made an entrance using a window. A loud thud venerated through the room she entered. That set Kushina off.

"Uzumaki-san?" she greeted the resident.

"Oh, for Kami's sake, use the damn door," Kushina bellowed. Weirdly, the redhead's hair started floating upward. Sweat flown down Cat's spine. The ANBU recognized the danger signs. Angry voice with floating hair from Kushina is always a bad thing.

"But a window is a nin-"

"Do you know how much money and time it costs to hire a carpenter to fix my window?" Oops. Best not to argue. Instead, Cat ignored the argument and skipped to her task.

"Anyway, the Hokage wishes for you to see him at a convenient time before the end of this workday," Cat finally delivered. Then the ANBU body flickered away from the ninja mother as fast as possible. That woman is absolutely terrifying.

"How rude! Dattebane!"

+-+  
**Konoha Academy**  
**Konoha, PX-615**

Sitting in the back of the classroom, Naruto attempted to listen to the chunnin-sensei in from of him, just like everyone else is doing. Alas, things are not going so well for him. The words of his instructor blurred into nonsense. His eyes started drooping as the instructor drone on about military tactics. Finally, his head began to nod as well, until his face hit the desk with a loud thud.

"NARUTO!" the chunin scolded.

Naruto sat straight up at attention. In an outburst of anger, Naruto screamed, "BORED BORED BORED BORED BORED!"

"What is it with you today? Do I have to tell your mother about this?" the teacher threaten. Naruto shuddered in response, remembering the various punishment tasks his mother dealt out.

"No, anything but that, Akiko-sensei!" The woman smiled. Detention never work on Naruto, and truthfully, it never work on anyone else either. But for Naruto, she can use his mother, who is more effective than a hundred detention.

"Well, then, behave and you'll get off scoff-free."

Internally, Naruto groaned. He looked at the clock, seeing that he is to wait 10 minutes before dismissal. It's going to be a long ten minutes.

+-+  
**Konoha Academy**  
**10 minutes later**

The bell rang for the last time today, signaling the end of school. Mom was going to be out in the school yard, so Naruto rushed out the door as quickly as he could, streaking through the hallway and out into the entrance of the school. Once there, he scanned the horizon for his mother.

"Mom!" he shouted happily. The boy ran off to his mother, and then slamming into and hugging his mother.

"Ugh!" Kushina replied in surprise. Her son tighten his hug.

"What is with you today? I never seen you so enthusiastic about getting out of school today."

"School's boring! Lecture boring! Sensei too slow!"

"Huh? Usually, you want to tell me what you have learnt today." Now that his mother has mentioned it, the boy scratched his head in confusion. Never before has he felt so bored. There are no recent change in what the teacher taught. Yesterday, he was deeply absorbed in the lecture. Today, he just couldn't stand it at all.

"I don't know," he replied.

"Maybe this is just an off-day to you," Kushina suggested. "Anyway, I have to meet with Lord Hokage. So you're going to have to go home by yourself. My shadow clones should still be there if you need anything."

"But mom, you promised me!" Naruto then tried his best puppy-eyed look. Kushina simply sighed at her son's clumsy social manipulation.

"Don't be like that. I'll treat you to an extra ramen this week."

"Ok! But I don't forget any promise, dattebayo!" Naruto ran off in the direction of home.

+-+  
**En-route to Uzumaki Residence**

As the blonde made his beeline toward home, everybody quieten around him. Some gave him the cold glare, while others covered their mouth, and some went out of their way to step beside him. The shopkeepers kept their fingers on the open/close sign. Naruto simply ignored them all.

If they wish to avoid him, he will avoid them as well.

+-+  
**En-route to Hokage Tower**

Kushina elected to walk. There was no need, really. since she was a ninja. The rooftops are much faster and more convenient to navigate. But as long she was Naruto's mother, she need to show that she's here.

The atmosphere around her chilled, causing people to take notice of her presence.

"Who is that?" someone blurted out.

"You don't know?" another whispered. "Best be on your best behavior right now, don't provoke her, and don't ask questions. Just remember her perchant for violence and even more-so, her love for family. Remember that blonde kid everyone hate? That's the boy's mother."

"Um..."

"You're about to say something stupid."

"Good."

Everyone tried their best to be "normal", whatever normal means in the presence of the container's mother. Reactions are unavoidable. A few civilians shook in their sandals, and a few literally sweated. Shinobis nearby can feel radiance of protective intent, causing them to unconsciously shift their bodies away from the woman.

The message is simple and obvious. Don't mess with her baby.

+-MEMO-+  
Attention: All Konoha-nins, maybe all fire-nins too.

Memo: If you visit the Uzumaki residence, be sure to use the door, not the window. The last thing you want is for Kushina to chase you all over town for breaking her window again.

Signed,

Anonymous ANBU officier  
+-MEMO-+

+-+  
**The Hokage's Office**  
**Konoha, PX-615**

There was a lull in the paperwork. Kushina will make a visit this afternoon. That gave the hokage the time to reflect and to regret what he had done.

/-FLASHBACK-BEGIN-/  
The Sandamine scanned the crowd. He can hear the wailing of babies and the muttering of confused parents. ANBUs on the side boxed in the parents. It was composed exclusively of parents and their newborn.

"The security of fire country is in danger!" he announces to the crowd. "And this threat is the Kyuubi. The demon is currently rampaging the countryside. We cannot stop it. It will come for Konoha within the hour and destroy the ninja forces that is keeping this country safe. Even now, ninjas are dying in drove."

The muttering increased, along with new panicking voices. The facial expression changed to shock and horror.

"But with our Will of Fire, there is a way. I will seal the demon within a newborn. A newborn is the best container for the Kyuubi."

"No! Don't take my son!" a woman pleaded.

"Surely you're not asking for all our newborn?!" he asked in a panicking voice.

"If you take my baby, just kill me!" another replied.

"I am asking for one newborn," the Sandamine replied. "Only one. Which one of you is willing to volunteer? Volunteer quickly! Or I shall grab one of the baby at random."

Many parents stepped back. While others hold on to their newborn tightly. None of them wished for this, and the ANBU will have to pry one of the baby from their dead hands. Several moments passed.

"Very well. You have made your choice. Cat, gra-"

"I volunteer," Kushina said very quietly. Her teeth clenched hard and streams of tears flown down her face. She repeats herself louder, "I volunteer."

"I see. Let it be known that Kushina Uzumaki had sacrificed her son, so that Fire country can thrive and that your sons and daughters are able to live. Long live Kushina Uzumaki and her son! Good night!"

No thanks were given to the redhead. The crowd simply dispersed into the tunnels.

/-FLASHBACK-END-/

But the only thing that the Hokage regretted that night was that he wasn't able to perform the death seal himself. Instead, the fourth took his place. Yes, it was very unfortunate that a newborn baby was used, but at the time, there was no other option. Today, it is still the same. He had tasked his seal researchers to find new ways, but so far it amounted to no-.

"Lord Hokage, Kushina-san has just arrived," the chunin secretary outside announced. "Should I let her enter right now?"

"Let her in," the Hokage commanded.

The door creaked open, and the redhead let herself in.

"Lord Hokage," she greeted formally. "What is the reason you summon me here?"

"Relax. I only want to ask a few questions about Naruto-kun. More specifically, have your son been in contact with any strange persons. Perhaps a traveling merchant?"

"What is th-. I mean. No, Lord Hokage. Nothing of that sort. He isn't in any danger is he?"

"No. But on the playground today, my ANBU has observed that Naruto was weaving some strange tales. He mentioned Minato Namikaze as his father. But he was not called the fourth, nor was anything of his abilities are mentioned. He is simply referred to as a soldier to an army that stretches between worlds."

Kushina blinked several time. She absolutely had no idea what he's talking about.

"I see. You don't know where he obtained those strange tales as well. It's very much possible that he simply mixed the Yondaime with tales he heard of."

"But I never told him his father," she protested. How did Naruto acquired this information? Kushina haven't told Naruto anything about his father!

"His father?"

"You don't know?"

"It was only today that I suspected the connection. I did not know why you and Minato kept it as a secret."

"He received words that someone is going to attack him. He told me to keep our marriage and my pregnancy a secret from everyone, just in case. I thought it was going to be simply an S-rank secret. Isn't there some paperwork or filing cabinet where S-rank secrets are stored?"

"I cannot confirm or deny that, Kushina-san. But I can confirm that I was not privy to that particular secret. Did he told you who was going to attack him?"

"No, he did not."

"So the secret died with him. It's worse than useless. You and Minato have a lot of enemies. It could be any number of them. I don't know where to start." The Hokage sighed.

"So what about the strange tales?"

"It's not anything I am particularly concerned about. But it's not anything that I nor anyone I know ever heard of. For example, stars are simply other suns, and a collection of suns are called galaxies. The suns are giant fireballs in the sky, like what we create with our fire justus."

"What?"

"I know. It's a very strange cosmology. Usually, every stories I heard of involved some kind of deity, who represent the sun. There were no mention of gods and goddess in the tales he weaved."

"I don't know what to think."

"Me neither. But I am very curious. I want to hear more. If you could, ask your son to tell you more. This is not an order from your Hokage. It's just a personal interest of mine. I won't mind if you simply said no."

"This is not a burden for me, Lord Hokage. I'll ask my son tonight."

"Very well. Oh, one more item before you go. You are to return to the roster concerning A-ranked and S-ranked mission next year. It had been five years since you last took any mission. Use this time to prepare yourself."

Kushina grimaced at the news. She wished she can stay home and continue to care for her Naru-chan. But a ninja of Kushina's caliber is not going to be sitting around doing nothing forever.

"Hai, Lord Hokage."

"You are dismissed."

Kushina bowed and then she left the office.


	2. Mystery

"_In the early day, just before the formation of the alliance, then-Major now-Rear Admiral Paul Davis came up with the idea that came to be known as fleet-oriented civilization. Instead of settling on immobile objects like planets, it is deemed that any new colonization effort should be done with space fleets. Stationary objects like planets are vulnerable to repeated attack, once its location is known. A colonial fleet, one that is capable of FTL, on the other hand, can relocate somewhere as necessary, to locations unknown to the enemy. A shadow fleet is an evolution of the concept. A shadow fleet, unlike a regular fleet, is unknown to the public at large and even to SATO command. This ensure that in the case of the destruction of SATO and its associated civilization, there is always a shadow fleet out there that can carry on the light of human civilization._" - Excerpt from The Military History of SATO on Chapter 2, Fleets and Shadow Fleets.

+-+  
**Uzumaki Residence**  
**Tokyo, Earth**

Naruto Uzumaki was perplexed. He looked at the note that his mother gave him and squinted again. It said, "Sorry, but I have work to do today, but I managed to snag a very awesome babysitter. I won't tell you who it is, but you will like her very much. Love, your mother."

It wasn't the content that puzzled him. It was the handwriting. It's truly chicken scratch. How did he come to accept that as his mother's handwriting, he did not know. He knew that mother write way better than this. Her handwriting is impeccable and beautiful.

If Naruto wrote anything ugly, his mom would force him to rewrite it again nicely. She always said that a time to write is always the time to practice handwriting. Maybe there are exceptions. Maybe she's too busy, or was in a hurry. There must be a good reason. Naruto shrugged. He could always ask her. There's almost no questions she refused to answer. And so he wrote a note back to his mom.

Without warning, Naruto heard a series of tones from his wristwatch. Excitedly, he rushed downstair. Once in the living room, he spotted a blue navy uniform and proceed to stand at attention to his babysitter. Recognition set in him.

The babysiter was none other than one of his hero, the greatest astrophysicist of her generation, instrumental to the formation of SATO and the alliance with the Asgard. Naruto stood in awe. How in the world did his mom gets someon-.

"Hello Naru, do you remember who I am?" she said.

"General Samantha Carter!" he replied. The woman displayed her youthful smile back at him. She was a person who looked very much in her prime.

"You remember your great grandmother! Why don't you call me Sam?" The boy simply looked confused. The blonde woman frown. Did Naru forgot all about her already?

"Great-grandma?" His great-grandmother. Naruto couldn't believed it. Of all the possible ancestors he could be related to, it's this person? That couldn't be right.

"Yes, your great-grandma." But just because someone looked like one of the great scientist doesn't mean she is, in fact, the astrophysicist and general Samantha Carter. Maybe there is another Samantha Carter. Cosmetic surgery and prosthetic enhancement are a thing after all.

So, Naruto took out his phone and bumped it against Carter's wristwatch. The phone quickly checked the public database of cryptographic identities and emitted a very audible beep, which confirmed that Carter is who she said she is.

"YOSH!" he exclaimed. Just his luck, one of his idol is his great-grandma! He did a victory dance. Carter cringed slightly.

Truthfully, she didn't like the fame. The tales of legendary heroics and scientific discovery that were spun around her are true. She made sure to correct any misconception and exaggeration that popped up over the year, including feats that were misattributed to her. But the legend around her still made her larger than life, more of a character, than a real breathing human being with all the baggage that entailed. One thing for sure, it made the later generation receptive to her, especially Naruto in particular. With time, Naruto will know her as his great-grandmother, rather than the legendary character General Samantha Carter.

"I have to change outside of this stuffy uniform. Where's the guest bedroom?" Naruto pointed to the room. "Alright, go get changed. We are not going to be staying here. I am taking you out to the space museum."

Naruto jumped up and down several times. Then he ran off to his bedroom to get changed.

Sam smiled at that. It had been too long anyway. He was just a two years old when she came to see how her grandson's family was doing. But at five years old, he will definitely form a longer term memory of her.

+-+  
En-route To Museum

Sam and Naruto walked outside.

The world outside of Naruto's apartment was clearly massive in scale, certainly much larger than Konoha. Railguns, lasers, and other defense emplacement dotted the techno-organic landscape. Airships, quadropters, and the occasional spacecrafts littered the sky. Most of all, Tokyo was teaming with humanity, especially with regard to pedestrian first urban policy. Thus, everywhere shops, stalls, and parks are, there are people outside.

Not surprising, there are many transportation options available. It is still possible to go to space using traditional chemical propulsion, or go to faraway places using airships, or use antigravity elevator to transit between levels, and so much more. But to the trip to the museum is going to be much more personal. Sam elected against using cars.

Rather, their journey to the museum started with their electric longboards. Together, Naruto and Sam carved through the smooth tubular concrete pathway, slowly making their descent toward the tree line, where the trees of Tokyo are allowed to exist outside.

The defense emplacements promptly disappeared after they passed the tree line. Then the spaces between the pathways became more enclosed, until the pathway itself is enclosed. No longer lit by sunlight, LEDs took over the job. Naruto and Sam are underground.

Their wristwatches tugged them, telling to move to the right. Both individuals made adjustment, steering themselves off the pathways and finally braking to a halt at the local subway station. With their longboards strapped to their bookbags, the duo waited for the train to the museum.

As Naruto waited, he noticed that something is not matching up to his expectation. It was completely normal, as if his great-grandmother wasn't around at all. Around him, people were interacting on their phones, or their wristwatches, or interfacing devices to their cyberbrain. But some are not doing anything at all. They can see him and his relative, and he can see them. A famous individual was amongst them, but nobody was reacting. Naruto scratched his head as he thought.

"Something wrong?" the blonde asked her progeny.

"Why nobody is responding to you?" Naruto puzzled out loud.

"Two reasons! I am not a celebrity nor are they paying particular attention to me."

"But, Sam-baachan, you changed the galaxy!" Naruto protested. Sam smiled at his adoration.

"Fortunately for me, they care more about celebrities than famous generals. I think the actress who played me is actually more famous." Naruto pouted at her answer, causing Sam to giggle a little bit.

The train arrived at the station, braking itself to a stop, and then opening its door. Everyone rushed in. Naruto and Sam held hands as they entered. A lot had changed since public disclosure, but the routine of subway stations remain largely the same.

+-+  
After Museum Visit

Today was great, heavenly even! He learnt that his favorite scientist is actually related to him. Then she took him to the museum, in which the good doctor functioned as Naruto's personal tour guide. Now, he was about to eat ramen.

"Here you go,a family special for the mother and son. Enjoy!" a waitress who looked very much like Ayame announced. The waitress placed two new miso ramen bowls on the table, a large one for Naruto, and a small one for Sam.

"Actually, this is my great-grandson."

"Oh sorry, you looked too much alike. Adults no longer looked their age these day. I will have to apply the senior dis-"

"Don't worry about that. Senior citizenship is an outdated concept."

"You're still getting discount. Boss a bit old fashioned."

"Thank you," Sam replied. She couldn't refuse. It'll make her look like she's unappreciative.

Once the conversation is over, Sam looked over Naruto. He was already halfway through the dish.

"Whoa, Naru! Slow down! You can't appreciate food like that."

"Can't help it," Naruto talked with his mouth full. Sam imperceptibly frown at such answer. It was an uninformative non-response to the question. Why and how are simply absent.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Can't. You'll get all hysterical. Then you'll tell mom. Then mom will come to school to castriate all the jerk who crossed me. Then I probably get kicked out of school or something."

"But Naru, you can't be possibly attending school. You're five years old. You should be out playing with children of your age and learning from your mother or fro-. No, wait. I want the names of the boys who bullied you."

"What? I didn't say anything!"

"You just told me when you started with 'hysterical'."

"Gah!"

"You will tell me the names of those boys and your mother and I will take care of it."

"No way! I ain't getting kicked out of ninja school!"

"Ninja school? My granddaughter-in-law enrolled you into a dojo?"

"It ain't a dojo. It's a real school with boring teachers and lecture and stuff!"

"A dojo is a type of school. It's where people go to learn martial art."

"It's not a dojo! I am becoming a real ninja, like how to walk on water and stuff. Not telling you or my mother! I am no mama's boy! I can handle them."

"Oh lord," Sam said in exasperation. This was going to be a long lunch.

"Clone technique!" Naruto yelled while he completed a series of hand sign. The technique utterly failed.

"What?! It didn't work! It didn't work!"

+-+  
**A Few Hours Later**  
**Psychiatrist's Reception Room**

Two woman and a child waited in the Doctor's reception room. The blonde child rested his head against the side of a redhead. Meanwhile, the blonde woman read an astrophysics magazine.

"Obaachan-in-law, what's the reason we're here again?" Kushina asked Sam. Earlier in the day, Sam marched right to where Kushina was working, with the blonde boy in tow, and dragged her granddaughter-in-law away from the shop. The situation was only briefly explained while they searched for the nearest psychiatrist.

"Pardon me? I am not familiar with Japanese honorifics."

"Grandmother."

"Is your little boy currently attending a school?"

"No. I hadn't enrolled him in any of that yet. The computers and me are sufficient for him right now. What does this have to do with my Naru-chan?"

"I thought so. Just play along with me at the moment. Tell me, have you ever heard of the Konoha Ninja Academy?"

"No."

"Little Naru had been telling me that he is going to that dojo to learn the ninja arts. He's getting bullied here. I found out because I noticed his habit of eating his food really fast. He tried to do some weird hand signs too, but I don't know what he's trying to do. I tried to look up Konoha myself, and I found nothing, even with the writings he provided me. Even the writing doesn't look familiar. It wasn't certainly in any of the writing systems we encountered thus far."

"Naru-chan been eating too fast? I thought I had cramped down on his bad behavior a little while ago. Apparently, he resorted to hiding the problem from me. But it couldn't be the bullies, dattebane! All the children he played with are nice and respectable. I knew their parents and they knew me. They agreed that bullying is unacceptable. Some of them are punished already!"

"Hmm. This is why we're taking him to the psychiatrist. Maybe he'll have a better luck in figuring out what's the deal with Naruto is. Hopefully, it's nothing."

Kushina crossed her arms. "It better be," she affirmed her grandmother's hope.

+-+  
**Psychiatrist's Office**  
**30 minutes later**

Two blondes, one a child, and the other, a young looking woman, sat in the seats in front of the Doctor's desk. The elderly lady had her arm hung over the child's shoulder, to reassure him.

"Don't worry. I promise that nothing will happen to you," she said with a very reassuring voice. Sam can see her progeny squirming and fidgeting. He is always doing that. But this is the first time that Sam placed her grandson in such an unpleasant situation for him. She wished she hadn't do that, but there was something strange going on with him. She knew.

Naruto fidgeted. He kept fidgeting. His mother and his mother's grandmother had sold him out out of their concern for Naruto's health. Traitors! But Naruto is absolutely fine! He just had to prove that he is a ninja and show Sam-baachan and kaa-san where he attended ninja school. Wait, why did mother went along with it? She took Naruto to school every other day! But never mind that. The only way to stop the situation is not to wonder about his mother but to find an answer for Sam-baachan! He better concentrate and bring out the directions to the local ninja academy.

It was a total blank. He couldn't place the Academy anywhere! It wasn't in Tokyo, but in Konoha. But where is Konoha? It is located in fire country, surrounded by the elemental nations. But where are the elemental nations on Earth? Why is he living in two places at once? It doesn't make sense! Naruto gritted his teeth and scrunched his face in confusion.

"Naru, are you alright?"

"I am not sick!" he blurted out. "Not sick! Not sick!" Sam grimaced. She had to think fast before the child starts a tantrum spiral.

"We don't know that right now," she improvised immediately. "All we are doing is taking you out of the doctor so that he can say that you are not sick." That part is very much true. "You know, parents tend to get worried sick." Truthfully, Sam believed in the resiliency of her progeny, but she isn't exactly Naruto's mother.

Naruto looked into the eyes of his progenitor for several seconds. Sam looked back into his blue eyes.

"OK!" he responded. Sam sighed in relief. The explanation seemed to have placated him.

Naruto began fidgeting again. Now that he had calmed himself down from his outburst, he schooled his facial expression to that of a bored child. He couldn't believe it! His infiltration class helped him trick his own baachan. Though he felt a little dirty. But now's not the time to feel bad. He have to figure out where Konoha is located. Is it on this planet? No. So, which planet is it?

The door suddenly creaked open. A doctor in white coat and Kushina walked in. The doctor actually looked fairly old, as if he was in his fifty's. In the sea of mostly youthful humanity, his look was fairly distinctive, even authoritative.

"Good afternoon. My talk with both Uzumaki-san and Doctor Carter had been very fruitful. Now, I must talk to Naruto-san alone. Can you please kindly step out of the office?"

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Sorry, Naru," Sam apologized. "I have to go. If you need anything, we'll be waiting right outside." Both women then left the office. Suddenly, it was one blonde to another.

The psychiatrist set his eyes upon Naruto. An interrogation is at hand! Naruto can't afford to let the doctor thinks Naruto is a nutcase.

"So, I have heard of tales about you wanting to become a ninja and doing spells." Doctor, it's not spells! They are techniques! Naruto held his tongue, not correcting the doctor's mistake. The middle-age looking man simply seated himself slowly and gracefully in his chair. Then he cracked a smile at him. Suddenly, the warm atmosphere dawn on Naruto.

"So, are you going to tell me your little adventure?"

"It's just my imagination! I went overboard!" Naruto bullshitted on the spot.

"Even so, I still want to hear all about it. I am not here to judge. I am here to help. "

The man radiated a very reassuring atmosphere unlike what his baachan could ever provide. It felt so convincing, so safe, that he felt he need to tell the Doctor everything about becoming a ninja. Naruto tried to resist. He even yelled "KAI!" in his mind. But it didn't work at all.

"Um, becoming a ninja..."

Naruto cracked wide open.

+-+  
**An hour later...**

The doctor looked upon the astrophysicist and the boy's mother. The mother fidgeted, just like her son, even fiddling with her fingers. The blonde looked stone cold still. It's very clear that the mother was very nervous, but that blonde elder woman was very hard to interpret.

He cleared his throat and delivered the verdict, "it is very clear. Naruto Uzumaki had what we psychiatrist called paracosm."

"Para-what?" Kushina blurted out.

"Nothing to be concerned with," the doctor reassured. "It's absolutely harmless."

"Thanks, Doctor Yamanaka," Sam said. "This is what we need to hear. It was just a whole lot of nothing."

"It's still the right decision to bring the kid in. Not many people know what paracosm is."

"But what's para-whatyoucallit?" Kushina wanted to know.

"Paracosm is simply what happened when a child's imagination went overboard, creating an elaborate fantasy."

"So all that ninja and Konoha thingy is all made up?"

"Yes. Although, Naruto's world is much more imaginative than others, bordering on realistic even. That probably means Naruto have very high IQ."

"Wow. Wow! Wow! Carter-baachan, he really have your genes after all."

"I wouldn't claim too much credit," the astrophysicist nitpicked. "Whatever genes I passed to him are probably very diluted."

"Paracosm are usually formed in response to childhood tragedy," the doctor added. "Did you have any recent tragedies in your family?" Kushina searched her mind for answer. Then she remembered what happened a year ago.

"Um. Yeah," Kushina confirmed. "A family friend died a little while ago. You know, military stuff." The doctor nodded in understanding.

"I see. Anyway, you're good to go."

Satisfied and relieved with the explanation presented, the women bowed, and then left the office.

"So, um, I was thinking about staying for the next two days," Sam asked.

"Seriously, you need to ask? You are welcome to stay here as long as you like!" Kushina offered. "It's not everyday when my husband's grandmother decided to visit his family home."

"I supposed so. I do have a lot of descendants. Some even I don't know."

"Just promise me something. Teach Naruto something of astrophysics."

The doctor smiled at her granddaughter-in-law.

"I will."


	3. An Unwanted Job

_A Thor class starship is a heavily armored and shielded super carrier that can project forces deep into enemy territory for several months. It can carry upward to 225 manned fighters and 900 combat support drones. It also carry 100+ support crafts for various operations. Laser and railgun point defense canons littered the ship in addition to latched combat drones. The starship carry a complement of 5000 individuals with 1000 support bots. Together with a battle group, a Thor class carrier is a foe nobody wants to mess with. _  
\- excerpt from Guide to SATO Starships, page 3.

+-+  
**Yesterday**  
**Jounin lounge, Konoha**

Boar, ANBU operative, and total newbie to the force, peaked around the corner to the Jounin lounge.

"YEAH!" yelled a loud female voice. That sent shiver down Boar's spine. But the clock is ticking. He had 5 minutes to perform this task or his ANBU captain will be dealing out some kind of...harsh punishment. Boar sweated profusely.

The woman, the target of a Hokage summon was in that room. He must go there and performed the mundane task of delivering a letter to her. It should be an easy job, yet it isn't. If he thought about it, all the tasks he been asked to perform are at first glance mundane gopher duties for the Hokage. But appearance of the task can be deceiving. In most case, it was fraught with hidden ANBU-level difficulty. Sending an ordinary chunin, let alone a civilian to perform the job would be sending him to death.

But this task's difficulty wasn't unknown at all. The woman in question is Tsunade, after all. Her legendary reputation for anger and violence was on par with Kushina-san, who was also sometime a S-rank mission herself. But the Hokage haven't summoned Tsunade in forever. Nobody really knew how to deal with her.

To deliver the message is the objective, but to truly succeed is to do it without Tsunade ever seeing him. It wasn't an actual requirement of this task or actually necessary, but his ANBU captain insisted on it. Challenges, no matter how silly it was, were tacked on to safe and ordinary missions. Well, Tsunade wasn't exactly safe, but at least she was friendly.

"I am going big! I bet all my chips!" Tsunade betted. The jounins surrounding her giggled. She was going to lose big time. Tsunade love to gamble, but she was absolutely terrible or she was terribly unlucky. Thus, she was nicknamed as the "legendary sucker".

Now or never! This is his chance to slip in the message from the Hokage. He draftily sneaked into the room and then prepare...

"HELL YEAH! I won big!" Two jounins stared at Tsunade in gaped horror. All their earning for this week, utterly stolen by the legendary sucker! Pitifully, they dragged their money from their wallets and onto the table. Tear flown down in silence. Sensing the opportunity to deliver the message, boar went for broke.

But then, Boar stepped on the wrong wooden plank. There was a loud creak. "What the hell?" Tsunade thought out loud. For a split second, she saw a hand.

"THIEF!" Tsunade shouted. Her elbow swang backward into Boar's stomach, sending him flying into the lounge's wall.

Message delivered. Task completed. Mission failed.

+-+  
**Hokage Tower, Konoha**

A serious atmosphere filled the Hokage's office. Two ninjas locked themselves into a staring match. A blonde woman twitched with anger, while the Hokage looked very clam and focused, not even looking the slightest concerned.

Tsunade was annoyed, very annoyed. She was going to spend it on sake to celebrate her gambling victory. Instead, she was asked to come to her sensei's office as soon as she can. Then that stupid ANBU who got himself hurt trying to deliver a message in secret. Is he a moron or what?

"What do you want, old man?" It was very rude indeed, but this was the private office of his sensei, and the exchange was between student and teacher who were almost like family.

The Hokage, surrounded by inks and paperwork, simply replied, "I want you to be the next Hokage."

"HELL NO!"

Sarutobi looked straight in his student's eyes.

"The fourth was supposed to be my successor," the third explained his reasoning. "But due to his untimely death, I had to assume the position for a time since no one else would do it. I am getting too old, and paperworks are not the best way to spend my twilight years. Someone will need to step up sooner or later."

Her face scrunched up. He was right, the village do need a successor, but making her the Hokage? That was utterly stupid!

"And you choose me? Why? I am at the least qualified to do it. Why don't you get my pervert of a teammate to do it?"

"He is the spymaster for our village. He also said he doesn't want to be Hokage." Tsunade gritted her teeth. She didn't want to be Hokage either.

"I have the village to look after. What do you supposed that I should do? I hope you're not planning to become a missing-nin?" Missing-nin? Sure, she didn't work more than a day in life if she didn't have to, but she wouldn't betray her village. That was simply unthinkable.

"I don't know. There must be some other S-rank ninjas around here that may be suitable Hokage candidates."

"While I do have a few S-rank ninjas in my force, none of them are ready for Hokage position." Tsunade thought quickly about how to get out of this. She doesn't want to be the next Hokage.

"So? You could just train them, right?"

"Good idea! Why don't you train them for me! I know you had not performed any S-rank missions in a while, but I still need you to be a Hokage candidate yourself." Tsunade could tell that her sensei had that devilish look in his eyes. Bastard!

"WHAT?!"

"Duty, Tsunade. My order is law. It's best for you to obey them. Unless you are willing to kill me and become a missing-bin?"

"I NEVER-"

"Good. If you train them well and hard, you will have a 25% chance of not becoming the Hokage. But if you don't train them at all, I will force one of my student to become the Hokage. That's 50%. Terrible odd, don't you think?" The Hokage handed the woman a manilla folder. "Inside that folder contained the profile of two S-rank ninjas that I want you to train. That's not all. I will be tutoring all three of you in politics." Politics? Tsunade hated the politics. She hated the lying manipulate bastards who were only in it for themselves. She wanted to throw up.

Tsunade clenched her fists, and stomped out of the office. That manipulative bastard-sensei had roped her into an unpleasant job. Worse of all, his logic was sound. She better train two whelps of ninjas into proper military dictators or become one herself. There was no choice in the matter.

And then there was the call of duty. Duty that she cannot avoid, duty that compel, duty that said certain things must be done. She neglected her health with drinking, gambled, and refused to do anything more than the occasional A-rank mission. The village had taken her family from her, and she would pay back by  
being the laziest ninja around. Now she can't even do that. Damn sensei, damn village, and damn her skills

In anger, she kicked one of the wall, punching a hole into the wall.

"You'll have to pay for that," a chunin secretary said nonchalantly.

"Put it on my tab."

Back in the Hokage's office, the third smiled. With time, the blasted paperworks will be in the hand of his successor. Then he will enjoy his final years with his wife.

+-+  
**Rooftops, Konoha**  
**Present Day**

Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man. Kakashi was very late. Kushina-neechan will be very much angry, if she wasn't already angry. Avoiding her since his sensei died for this long was not so good of an idea, especially when the Hokage forcefully retired and assigned the copy-nin to Kushina Uzumaki. Not so good to linger around the memorial stone either! Other people may tolerate his tardiness, but not Kushina-neechan. She was a severe woman, a disciplinarian and brilliant pranker both.

Without a thought, he instinctively jumped from rooftop of rooftop, while imagining how Kushina will tear him limb to limb. He's so absolutely fucked.

Just when he was about to use the Uzumaki residence window, he remembered something very important from yesterday. What was it? A memo from Cat, he believed.

Ah, yes, the memo! The memo said not to use the window to the Uzumaki residence! Well, shit! He shifted his foot before his last jump, but he miscalculated. Instead of landing at the door, he slammed into the wall next to it. Then he fell down into the ground.

Idiot! Disgrace! Baka! A former ANBU bested! It should never ever happened! He checked the surrounding to see if nobody saw him. To his relief, nobody was observing him.

But then the door creaked open. Kushina walked out. Instead of laughing at his stupidity or uncharacteristic clumsy, she bellowed, "WHERE THE HELL YOU BEEN FOR THE LAST FIVE YEARS?"

Briefly, Kakashi was glad that Kushina care more about family than a ninja's skill. He would be so embarrassed out of his mind.

"Never mind, come inside and meet my son." He had expected pain, with a lot of kicking and punching involved. But instead, she merely invited him to breakfast. Maybe it won't be so bad after all?

+-+  
**Dam Good Bar, L1 O'Neill Colony**

The bar was a dark cool place, filled up with Jazz music, and a lot of alcoholic drinks. Unsurprising, there was a table in which a group of senior SATO officers played out a high stake card game. Thousand of credits were at stake, and so was the reputation as the most cunning liar.

Admiral Saul Tigh was one of them, and he was the last two standing. From across the seat, he attempted to read his final opponent, a colonel earther by the name of Jane O'Neil. Brown hair, blue eyes, and a very nubile face, she didn't look the face of a senior military officer, but it is said that she is so well respected that even the higher ups deferred to her.

In this day and age, no one were to judge a person's age by his or her look. It's a fool errand. It is certain that she is older than Tigh, and certainly older than the rest of the old-timers. There were no young-guns in this game. At minimum, they were fifty and older. Tigh and the other officers opted for an older look, because it reflected more respect and seniority. But this person was an exception to the rule. She looked young, in her "20s" rather than "40s or 50s".

"So, the next time one of us lose, we will tell the reason we chose not to die?" O'Neil proposed out of the blue.

"Deal," he replied. It was a way of getting to know each other.

They both laid down their cards, but O'Neil had the better hand. She won several hundred chips. One of the loser gentleman then dealt new cards.

"The reason I don't want to die, because well, I don't want to die," the admiral began. The Colonials, as you know, like the Earthers, were in denial over that sort of technology and the implication. We, too, built a whole memeplex around death, about why death is good, and why immortality is bad. None of that affected me in the slightest. The opportunity was there, and I took it. It's very simple."

The gentlemen around the table somewhat understood what Tigh said, but they never grew up with the idea that death is somehow good yet mostly bad at the same time. O'Neil nodded. She understood the other part of it, the denial and the suicidal urge to die by old age even if Tigh never gave a damn.

"It was that easy, huh?"

"Easy."

"For me, the decision was made easy by my former second in command, Samantha Carter. Once, she and her twin chose it. The O'Neil family followed. The choice was to sit there and watch my solders never age while I succumb to old age or experience the future as long as possible."

Something flickered in his old yet peak efficient brain of Tigh.

"Wait a minute, isn't that's the weird doppelgänger family?" The woman smiled widely.

"Exactly! Thanks to the miracle of cloning and parallel reality crossover! Anyway, I am putting half of my chips in."

It was time to lay down the cards. Part of the game included a timer to ensure that rounds don't last too long and the game will be finished on time. Tigh was a bit scuffled. He didn't have time to think about why she decided to gambled half of all her chips or the relative strength of their cards.

All he knew is that he have a damn good set of cards.

"Alright, half of my chips as well."

Once the cards were laid, he automatically knew that he lost. He was drained half of his chips. He decided to quite while he still was in possession of his money.

"Colonel Jane O'Neil, good game."

"Good game, as well."

Admiral Tigh sighed. That old weasel of a woman was very cunning indeed. She had used the conversation to sweet talk his mind into thinking about the novelty of the woman in front of him rather than focusing his mind on the game.

A phone rang.

"Pardon me, I have to answer the phone," she said.

"Jane," the phone announced. "I need you to meet at the local base. It's important."

"Alright, I'll be right there." She looked at the table, and announced, "sorry, I have to leave. Good evening." She left the bar.

+-+  
**Paul Davis Naval Base, L1 O'Neil Colony**

Sitting in a temporary office, an old general scanned his tablet.

"Paperworks, the god damn only constant in this changing military," the general gripped.

The door automatically swinged open for a female officer. The hair color and eye color she possessed, the general also possessed. After all, they are family.

"Jack, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I do. But you're not going to like what you are going to hear."

"I am finally getting thrown out of the military?" she joked.

"No," he replied simply. "But you are getting kicked upstair. You will be leading SOCOM."

"What?! No! I don't want the damn paperwork, and I don't want the st-"

"Nonetheless, that is what you must do, unless your tour of duty is almost up, in which case you could quit or resign."

"You can't do this to me."

"You did it to yourself, by your performance and leadership. And I am not the man who promoted you."

"God damn it. My job is a comfy one. It was planning, executing, and doing what my team needs, without the annoying paperwork and lack of bullshit. Plus, it's less stressful since it's a smaller team."

"I get it. But the stress are less when you're a general. The magnitude involved wasn't in any sense meaningful, whether we are talking 1000 or 100 individuals. What mattered more are the individual faces that you knew disappearing forever."

Jane O'Neil gritted her teeth. She hated paperwork, meetings, and she very much hated politics. SATO was very functional and competent, thank you very much, but on occasion, politics infiltrated the organization.

"I am not ready for this," Jane O'Neil tried to bullshit.

"Don't look at me. Once again, I am not the one who ordered this." O'Neill sent an encrypted mail to her mobile phone. "It's location dependent, so you can only read the message in this room. Before that can happen, I have to leave." The general left the temporary office.

The woman couldn't exactly quit or resign. It's not like getting a job at a fast food restaurant. She had an oath and a contract to serve out. There was nothing to do but follow order and do her job until that time she can quit or resign, if it ever came to that.

She tapped her phone and began reading the message.


	4. Realization

_Q: What's a hidden village? How does that fit with a country's political system?_

_A:_

_A hidden village is the military organization of ninjas, which serve as a nation's standing military and a mercenary force to nations without ninjas. Naturally, I only know of Konoha in details, but I can tell what they can or cannot do, and how they fit in with the state._

_ There are certain duties that the hidden village must fulfill and certain restrictions it must abide by. Konoha ninjas are to undertake a certain amount of missions from the government, to not interfere with the affair of the civilian government, and to support the national interest of Fire country. In exchange, the ninjas are free to govern themselves within the prefecture of Konohagakure, and free to take missions from civilians, and they do not have to pay taxes to the government. _

_Contrary to popular local beliefs, ninjas cannot be hired to kill people you don't like, spy on competitors with no just cause, or destroy a trade caravan. All of these are against the laws for normal citizens and applied equally to ninjas as well. Note that Fire country's laws also govern ninjas outside the nation as well. The last thing Fire country wants is an international incident abroad._

\- excerpt from Naruto's Guide to the Elemental Nation. Originally posted on the SpaceBattles forum.

**Uzumaki Residence**  
**Konoha**

The sunshine slowly creeped across Naruto's face, until it hit his pupils. Instead of rousing to awake, he instead turned his body and his face away from the sunlight. Kushina entered the room, and she took a look over her son.

"Wake up! Rise and shine!" Kushina announced. Naruto didn't wake up. Instead, he shut his eyes harder, determined to get a little bit more sleep. She then tugged at the boy's shoulder. Naruto grumbled.

Slowly, a mischievous grin appeared on her face.

"WIGGY WIGGLE!" she shouted while she tickled the boy's body.

"AH! RAH! STOP IT MOM!" Naruto protested. She tickled some more. "PLEASE!" Then she stopped.

"Now that you are awake, get dressed up for school. I will have breakfast ready soon, and no, it won't be ramen." Naruto made his pouting face, to which Kushina responded with a smile. She headed for the kitchen, while Naruto rushed toward the shower.

As the cold water sprinkled over him, a thought came to him. There was no hot water at all. Instead, it was only unheated water, or no water at all. Weird. Things had been strange since yesterday. Last night, his mother asked all sort of questions last night about the universe, the same questions that the children at the playground asked. He thought that everyone knew, but for some reason they insisted that gods or goddess created the universe. What a nonsense idea!

A few minutes later, the water ran out. Naruto grumbled. He could use some hot water, but as far as he remembered, there was always...No, he did have hot water. It just wasn't in this bathroom. Just where is it in this apartment? But since the shower ran out of water, he probably should get a change of clothes, which he did as quickly as possible. There were food in the dinning room, after all. He can smell the aroma of the cooking. His stomach growled with anticipation. He smiled at the thought and then took off for the dinning room.

+-+  
**Kitchen**

Kushina went through the motion of cooking automatically without a thought. Whether that is chopping, stirring, dipping, frying, she can do it all. Though, that wasn't always the case.

Kushina was originally throughly a tomboy. She wanted to fight, punch, and kick, and beat the craps out of boys, and she absolutely did those things for as long as she can remembered. She hated shopping for clothes and all the other girly things that normal girls did. It was a total waste. The redhead couldn't even care to learn how to cook beyond the bare necessity, leaving it to everyone else.

When her son arrived, all the part of being a mother she learnt quickly. If there were certain tasks that a father should do for his son, she learnt that as well. It was necessary. She needed to be a parent. It didn't matter if a task was reserved for a father or a mother. Those things were necessary, so those get done. Thus, cooking she learnt. No matter how much her family loved ramen, she knew that they can't eat that all the time. For Kushina and her son to eat anything, it had better be good, or they default to ramen.

Gradually, an idle thought creeped up in her mind. It was the lore talk with her son. Besides the lore, his behavior had been puzzling. He always insisted that Kushina taught him that or that the computer person taught him. He even momentarily accused Kushina of being a henge of his mother. How silly!

A loud thud made its way to the kitchen. Alarmed, she extinguished the fire and body flickered away to the dinning room.

+-+  
**Dining room**

Methodically and carefully, he ate his food, just like his mother told him. The last thing he wants is more calligraphy lessons. Still, he enjoyed the food. It seems that his mother had two style of cooking. One was Japanese, and one was...well..whatever it was, it's still somewhat similar to Japanese. In both case, they were well done, almost godly even. Really, it was the only thing that ate beside ramen. Restaurant food was at best, ok, unless it was ramen.

Without notice, the wall buckled a little with a loud thud. He stopped eating, turning his head toward the sort. Instantly, his mother was in the dinning room as well.

"Thanks goodness," his mother said. He didn't know what was she worried about. Maybe it was the broken window again? "You're safe."

"Safe who?" Naruto blurted out.

"Never mind. I am checking the outside now. I want your sharp kunai at the ready. There might be bad guys outside."

"Baddies?" He didn't know what to think. If there were an invasion going on right now, would there be Goa'uld, or aschen-whatever, kicking down door or trying to destroy Tokyo with a well placed orbital bombardment? Mom is acting real jumpy today.

Wait? Is this Tokyo? No, it's Konoha. Why would he be in one place, and then in another place the next day? He haven't travel a bit. Where was Sam-baachan? This is really confusing. Then his mother and a whitehead entered the apartment.

"Yo," the ninja said nervously. Naruto squinted at him. His train of thought about his memories lost, he focused on recognizing the man. Recognition crept into his face instantly. Despite the white coloring and the messy hair, it's someone he knew.

"This is my son, Naruto, and this is a close colleague of min-" Kushina said before she got cut off.

"Hound-san! You're alive!"

Kakashi shuddered. How the hell he know his ANBU codename? It's impossible! No regular konoha nins even looked at him.

"You look real funny," Naruto commented. Soldiers aren't supposed to have that kind of hair. They're supposed to be short and trimmed. And why did you dyed your hair white? Did you have to fight in the snow or something?"

What the hell is Naruto talking about?

"Um..." Kakashi replied. What he meant to say is that it's his natural hair color. Suddenly, he felt the force of a slap on his back. "Ugh!"

"So, I am glad to see that you did spent some time with my family," Kushina said with a smile. Then she whispered with an angry tone, "so you met and interact with my son but refused to talk to me?"

"Umm-uh," Kakashi repeated himself.

"I knew that you couldn't possibly die," Naruto commented further. "Hound-san is way too awesome!"

"I never met you, kid," Kakashi finally forced through his throat. "I don't even know your name. And my hair is note white. It's silver." Naruto looked at him funny. People don't have silver hair, unless it was genetic augmentation. Even then, they would say they inherited the silver hair color from an ancestor who underwent genetic augmentation, not say it's a natural part of the human genome.

"Huh? What's your name then?"

"Kakashi Hatake."

"Oh," Naruto said with a disappointed tone. His shoulder deflated. Kushina narrowed her eyes, her paranoia raging red hot. She didn't like Naruto meeting people he shouldn't. Hound-san sounded like a codename for an ANBU operative, and it is very suspicious that Naruto would know the name of an ANBU operative. It sounded like a spy, possibly looking to capture her son.

"So, who is this Hound-san that you speak of?" Kushina asked.

"You don't know? I thought he's a family friend?"

"Naruto, the only family friend is this guy next to me."

"Huh?"

"I want you to tell me everything about this 'Hound-san' ANBU character."

"Hound-san is not an ANBU!"

Her mother's rage boiled into face scrunching and rolled up fist, causing Naruto to uttered an "eep!"

"You will give me every scrap of information on that person. He's a risk to village security, and most importantly to you."

Suddenly, Kakashi felt the room chilled and heated up several degrees in both way.

Like a good boy, Naruto spilt every bit of information.

+-+  
**10 minutes later**

It was an awkward breakfast. The Uzumakis sat together in silence, yet it seems that there were no anger. Hatake, however did sense confusion and disbelief. Both Kushina-neesan and her son seemed lost in thought. The copy-nin would be too if it weren't for the scary sister-figure in front of him. The ideas and descriptions stemming from Naruto were absolutely ridiculous and nonsensical though. Enough so that she declared that it was obviously a figment of Naruto's imagination. Not even genjustu would possibly explain the story he told. The boy was about to say something, but then he thought differently.

An idle thought finally stirred in Kakashi's mind. He never thought that Kushina-neesan had a child. He didn't connect the redhead to Kushina-neesan. Or rather, he should have known. There was only one redhead in the village. He had even overheard the tales from terrified civilians concerning her protective behavior over her son. Kushina loved family. The legends fit her to a t. But there's one thing he haven't heard of. Who exactly is Naruto's father?

"So, where's the father?" Hatake asked.

"Dead," she replied simply. Naruto did not react, as he was distracted enough by his own thought.

"Dead?"

"Yep. October 10th."

"I am sorry."

"Don't be. He did what was necessary to save this village. If it weren't for him, the village and fire country would be absolutely crushed, and none of us would be there."

"What's his name?"

"That's unimportant." Unimportant?

"Well-"

"If you don't mind, I prefer not to say his name. As much as I love him, it's still a very painful memory to me."

"I see." So even Kushina-neesan is a bit broken too, huh?

For the rest of the time, he ate in silence too.

+-+  
**En-route to Academy**

As Naruto walked to his destination, his mother and Kakashi-san followed closely behind. They weren't jumping roof to roofs yet. Naruto had yet to master that skill. But a slow walk did provide him an opportunity, that is, to think. The adults made small talks, but he wasn't focused on what they are saying.

There was something strange about the life he lived thus far. It was weird that his mother wants to know who hound-san was. He was a family friend! The fact that his mother declared said a person a figment of Naruto's imagination reminded him of the diagnosis that blonde doctor gave him.

It was called "paracosm", in which a person imagined an elaborate and highly detailed world. He couldn't be imagining hound-san would he? Where is Sam-baachan exactly? She was the one who dragged him to that clinic, yet she wasn't anywhere in the house. Could she be a figment of his imagination too? It seemed more likely than hound-san to be his imagination.

He sorted through his memory to see what he can find. Today, it was Konoha. Yesterday, it was Tokyo. Two days ago, it was Konoha. Three days ago, it was Tokyo. Four days ago, it was Konoha. There's a pattern! Every day, he switched between locations. Naruto focused more and more deeply into the past until it became a complete blur. Did the pattern really extend all the way to the past? It was impossible to know. He didn't keep a record of events.

Human memories are naturally faulty, especially narrative details. They changed each time you remembered it. It was only until the advent of widespread cyberbrain technology that human memories became an accurate rendition of the past, at least for the important memories. Yet, Naruto didn't have a cyberbrain. He was too young to have one. Naruto sighed.

They had just arrived at the school's gate. He turned to his mom and waved goodbye. It's going to suck bad. Ninja school was absolutely a bore. He wondered why he had to listen to his teacher lecture live. It seemed so inefficient. Maybe he could ask his mom to transfer him to a better school. Yeah, he should do that tonight.

+-+  
**Classrom 7**

In just ten minutes since the beginning of a lecture by Akiko-sensei, Naruto went headdesked. Even so, the rest of the class listened intently to Akiko-sensei on the matters of medical techniques. She gestured widely, cracked joke, and even looked happy. It was one of Akiko-sensei's better day as a teacher.

The blabbering didn't stop for another ten minutes. The class held their attention all the way through. Of course, there was one exception to the rule. Her interesting rant finally stopped. There was a pause in the classroom. As a matter of habit, the sensei swept the room for any inattentive pupil. She found him.

Enraged at Naruto behavior, the sensei threw an eraser at him. The eraser followed an arc until it hit Naruto right in the head, a testament to the kunoichi's throwing skill, and humanity's talent at ranged weaponry.

"OUCH!" Naruto cried. "What was that for?"

"That was for sleeping in my class. I am going to tell your mother about this!" The class snickered. The teacher eyes narrowed.

"Any of you snicker again, I'll punish the whole class." Her pupils shut their mouth as much as they could.

"Please don't tell mommy," Naruto plead for the second time. Akiko-sensei stared intensely at Naruto. She wondered what she should do. It was not like him to slack off the second day in a row. Usually, he's a very well behaved boy, in spite of the occasional bullying. Maybe it's a slip-up, but she couldn't exactly let Naruto get away with it. Unless...

"If you answer the question right, I'll won't tell your mom, but this is the last chance you get." Naruto nodded rapidly at the opportunity.

"Ask away!" he said with bravo.

"To use a medical technique, what kind of control do you need to develop?"

"Really good control! On the level of folding a crane with charka!" The teacher face momentarily flashed wide surprise. "Did I get the answer right? Did I?"

"Yes, you did. But remember, sleeping in my class will mean I'll tell your mother."

"I understand!" Naruto again nodded rapidly.

For the rest of the time, he fidgeted in his seat hard, all the while trying to at least pretend to listening to the lecture. He didn't like how the teachers taught. They were boring and they are usually terrible at lecturing. Usually, when listening to a lecture, one listen to a video, rather than a live person. A well done lecture video is actually an accumulation of feedback, questions and answers, corrections, and a lot of editing. Frankly, it was baffling to Naruto that Konoha Academy don't use the tubes.

+-+  
**Recess time**

Naruto had no friends whatsoever, at least not in school. He stared at children from afar, sitting on the swing tied to the tree. They were having loads and loads of fun playing ninjas. But then he wondered just why did people show interest in what he said yesterday? Yet they did not even acknowledge his existence today. Weird, just plain weird. But why would he care? He have friends, and they were more awesomer, cooler, and bester than those ninja wannabe in every way! Frankly, his classmates are as dumb as bricks. They just don't go to ninja school. Naruto smiled at the memories.

**Classroom 7**

Akiko never bother looking at the students at the playground. Why would she? She had assignments to grade, co-worker to socialize with. Yet, today, there was no work to grade. All the chunins in the building were apparently busy frantically grading. That never happened before. She supposed that this Kami's reward for not procrastinating on work, but that mean there are no one to socialize with. In an attempt to relieve her boredom, she looked out the window to the nearest moving objects: children at recess time.

They were animated, running as hard as they could, shrieking when they are shot, and getting themselves dirty. It was a huge confusing mess too, but it was good practice too. Years later, they will be ninjas, and their time spent on recess will aid them in their survival.

Then she scanned the outdoor for anything interesting. She quickly zeroed in on a yellow and orange colored boy. That boy seem to always wore the obnoxious orange suit when his mother is not around. Yet, there he is, on that swing, completely recognizable yet totally alone and ignored. The blonde's stare at the children made him look so sad.

But then the neutral expression of the whiskered blonde changed to a smiling one. Kami, what would he be smiling about?

+-+  
**Outdoor**

The swing was claimed by a jerk. So Naruto took refuge near another tree. In the cool shade, he slowly drifted into a nap.

+-+  
**Ten minutes later**

Naruto felt his shoulder shook. His eyes slowly opened up to a view of a young woman in a flak jacket.

"Akiko-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Yep, it's me," the woman confirmed. "You felt asleep and recess is already over. Come to the classroom."

+-+  
**Classroom 7**

Naruto's mind was clear and less agitated. There were no jumble of restlessness within him. He was relaxed. The nap seemed to have help him a great deal. He fidgeted less in his seats, even.

Yet again, there was another boring lecture by Akiko-sensei. It was on the history of the Shinobi nations. Instead of falling asleep, his mind drift to somewhere else, to Sam-baachan. Despite the scare yesterday, she was still a load of fun and he had continued to enjoy her company right up until his great-grandmother put him to sleep. The last thing he remembered was watching a movie with her, about a guy who lived two lives in two different places.

Memories are a funny thing. They triggered at all kind of stimulus and all kind of memories. Sometime, thoughts were triggered predictably, and other time, it was unpredictable. This time, the memory trigged Naruto's thought about his memories, as to why it was Konoha today, and Tokyo tomorrow. Then it dawn on him. He was and is currently living two lives, just like the movie.

Suddenly, all the things that doesn't make sense now make sense to him. The way Konoha taught his ninjas wasn't because they don't use the tubes, but because there were no tubes in the first place. His mother believed in gods and goddess because this society was pre-scientific.

Then a rush of memories hit Naruto all at once. It was a blurs of people, places, things, and the stuff he done, all perfectly blended together. The memory rushes suddenly stopped. He felt an onset of headache, which became momentarily unbearable. It was so bad that he want to headdesk, but he refused. With the moment of a painful headache passing, Naruto could finally focus. He still had a headache, but it was manageable.

Then he muttered in Japanese, "cool!"

Nobody in the classroom heard what he just said, and even if they did, they wouldn't understand what he just said.

+-+  
**Several hours later**

School was finally over. Naruto had endured another day of boredom, and yet he will be back at this school. There are no other ninja academies, and there wasn't any ninja academies in Tokyo either. It was two different places, located on two worlds. That idea, he wasn't quite sure yet, but it was the only thing that made sense.

Naruto scanned the horizon for his mother. He spotted his mother, right next to the silverhead. Suddenly, a crazy idea came over his mind as he ran toward his mother. He will do something naughty and his mother won't get a thing, like...this! Plus, it will strengthen his hypothesis.

"Hi mom!" he greeted his mother.

"So how was school?"

"It was ok!" he lied.

Then he dropped his f-bomb, "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!" Naruto then looked up to his mother, expecting to see a puzzled reaction. There was none. Instead, his mother shown an especially angry face. He was in very deep trouble.

"I may not understand your words, but I know you just said those naughty words!" Kushina declared. What the hell? Is his mother a psychic or something? Naruto paled at the incoming punishment.

"Eep!"

"I am going to rub your tongue with habanero sauce as soon we get home!"

Naruto did not attempt to run. It was utterly futile, since she is much faster than him. This time around, no amount of pleading was going to help him, because once a punishment is decided, she will carry it out.


	5. Mentors and Trainees

_What the natives on PX-615 called charka, we called it bioenergy field. And the ability to manipulate said charka was what gave them and the Nox their power. But what they can do versus what the Nox can do is radically different, based on different understanding as well thousand of years of evolution. With those thousand years of genetic drift from Nox interbreeding with the native population, they were able to create new traits such as "elemental affinity" which is based on the old human cosmology of having everything consisting of these elements, mainly Earth, Water, Wind, and so on._\- Nox scientist

Training Ground 7  
Konoha

Tsunade had not been drinking this whole morning, and she will not drink. Today was a work day. She can't afford to look unprofessional in front of Hokage candidates. She scanned the horizon for any incoming ninjas. She found none.

But patience is a virtue, especially in an ambush. Sooner or later her "wonderful" students will arrive. Hatake Kakashi is probably a pervert and late bastard. She swore if he was even one second late, he would get the beating of the lifetime. Uzumaki Kushina, on the other hand, is headstrong, and most likely to disrespect and underestimate the medical ninja, simply because of the rumors and gossip about Tsunade's less than stellar behavior. The solution for Kushina is the same as Kakashi: Just beat the crap out of them within inches of their life.

Then, there's Shizune, her apprentice. She made sure to force the Hokage to consider her as a possible S-rank candidate, hopefully increasing the probability of Tsunade not being Hokage to 75%.

Finally, she spotted a redhead and a silver head on the edge of the training ground. Almost the entire team. All she had to do is wait for Shizune.

+-+  
Minato's Room  
Paul Davis Naval Base, L1 O'Neil Colony

Lying on his bed, Minato Namikaze looked at the family album on his computer. A swelling of guilt passed through him. Maybe, he should be with his family, not off pursuing his dream and career. Kushina and Naruto are all alone on Earth, except for today's visit by his grandmother.

Even if he wanted to quit right now, he couldn't. He had a tour of duty to get through and a duty to humanity he must fulfill as his oath. At the very least, he will be stuck in the forces for four years, longer if he decided to enroll for training to become a Shadow commando, which add on two years of training plus an additional four years of mandatory duty. All, in total, ten years of service. Naruto will be 15 when Minato finally left the military.

Seeing him grow up is an opportunity of a lifetime. After all, children are rare in a society in which people don't die of old age. They just keep going until accidents or war kill them. He can always become a shadow later.

Suddenly, several loud bangs rocked against the door to his room.

"What is it?" Minato shouted.

"It's important. The commander had come to see us today, including potential Shadow enrolled."

Minato sighed. It's an order he can't disobey.

+-+  
Training ground 7

Shizune's master had told her yesterday to show up on training ground 7. She couldn't fathom why, but seeing that she had nothing to do that morning, she obliged.

She hoped that it wasn't one of Tsunade-sama's harebrained gambling idea, because she stood on the training ground with nobody in sigh. She sighed in boredom.

Moments later, she heard chattering. She turned her head in the direction of the noise and squinted her eyes for better vision. She could see two moving dots on the horizon, one silver and one redhead. It's not Tsunade-sama, that's for certain.

Finally, the faces became more recognizable, and their chattering more understandable. It was simple small talk.

"Hello," she shouted afar. "What are you doing here?"

"Me?" Kushina replied. "What about you? Why is Shizune-san here?" Shizune-san blinked. This redhead somehow knew her, but Shizune forgot who she is.

"Well, Tsunade-sama told me to come here."

"Ah, well, Kakashi-san and I were told to come here."

"Hmm," Kakashi said, not sure what to think in the first place.

All the sudden, several kunai flew in the trio's direction. The trio started dodging.

"Gah!" Shizune yelled. One of the kunai tagged Shizune, blewing itself into smoke. Kushina and Kakashi managed to dodged all the kunai cleanly.

"SHAMEFUL! SHAMEFUL!" Tsunade's voice resonated throughout the forest. "This is what team 7 looked like? A weak member right off the bat? A medical nin is supposed to not get hit!"

Then a tree went up smoke, slowly revealing Tsunade.

"But but but-" Shizune stammered. Tsunade ignored the protest.

"As of today, you are all hokage candidates in training," Tsunade announced. "We are now Team 7. You may call me sannin-sensei."

"Hrm," Kushina managed to say. She knew that she was going to perform S-rank missions sooner or later, but being a Hokage candiate? The redhead wondered how her son will take this.

Kakashi's jaw dropped. He didn't asked for this. No. Not possible. There's no way this is going to hapen.

"Wuh what how?" Shizune said, still in the throe of confusion.

"Since this team is pathetic, we will begin agility and dodging training immediately," Tsunade announced.

Team 7 stood for a few minutes, waiting for something to happen. Yet nothing happened.

"Oh, I need to devise something," Tsunade admitted to her embarrassment. The whole team sweat dropped.

+-+  
Training Room 7  
Paul Davis Naval Base, L1 O'Neill Colony

Jane O'Neil surveyed the room. Each and every member of the Shadow were there, and so was every potential trainees. In her hand was a manilla folder, listing information about the assignment.

"We have received a Code Janus," she announced to the room. Murmurs quickly spread throughout the room.

Minato arched one of his eyebrow.

"Unfortunately, the details cannot be revealed right now," O'Neill noted. "You know how messy time travel can be. But it is clear from what I learnt that we'll need more Shadow commandos in the future, starting now. The militarization rate of SATO nations as a whole will be going up as well, from 2 percent to 2.1 percents. That mean that our future is in grave danger."

The situation is dire. The blonde can feel his future plans slipping away.

"That means more of you will have to volunteer and sacrifice or the future, especially the new trainees." O'Neill looked directly at the trainees. "So, nobody is leaving this room until 90% of you 'volunteer'. It's an order."

One by one, slowly at first, trainees raised their hands and came forward. Minato tried to stave it off at first, but the sheer peer pressure made it difficult. There would be volunteers, just not him.

But the volunteer rate passed 90%. Then 91%, 95%, and on. Minato was almost the last man out.

He raised his hands too. A few minutes passed, and it was a 100% volunteer rate. He wasn't going to come home and raise his family. He was going to war in some unspecified period against a threat only known to high command. He was going to protect his family.

"Good!" the commander said. Her face twisted into a sadistic smile. "The training...starts now!"


	6. A Plan Formed

_It was a life long quest of mine, starting with my childish desire, to see that the ninja world know the rest of the galaxy. To know of the amazing technology, the amazing people, and the amazing miracles that were a daily occurrence in my other life. But as I progressed through my childhood, my quest took upon a moral dimension. People died in meaningless wars, died of old age, and killed animals for food. People don't questioned that, even my mother. But as a citizen of Earth, I just saw how good and privileged my life is and how important first contact is. First contact didn't solve all the problems that place had. Nothing will, but with first contact, there were solutions in reach for my ninja homeworld, that just wasn't possible before._ \- Naruto Uzumaki autobiography

+-0-+

**Uzumaki residence**

**Tokyo, Earth**

Sunlight shined upon Nartuo's eyes, causing his eyes to open. He was totally relaxed and comfortable in his bed, as it was temperature controlled. He neither felt too hot or too cold. It was just right. It was yet another technology not available in the ninja world.

But those difference in technology and experience in waking up wasn't on Naruto's thought at the moment. His preoccupation was with what happened last night. Naruto was caught spewing out foreign curse words by his mother, who then subjected his mouth to many variety of hot sauces. The boy swirled his mouth with his tongue. There were nothing from last night. Of course there wasn't, as the spiciness in his mouth had already disappeared when he went off to bed. Naruto felt a wave of relief. He then turned to the most important matter as of yesterday.

Mainly, he lived in two worlds at once, and initially he didn't know what to think or what to do with the discovery. The boy just stay in bed frozen by such idea. It was as if somebody gave you the ability to fly and you don't even know how cool it is to fly.

Then he remembered that movie and the protagonist's attempt to proved that he did in fact live in two world at once. That gave Naruto a starting point. He would try to prove that it wasn't his imagination, but that it was real, but how? He knew that from the movie, the hero was ridiculed at every point. Naruto definitely do not want baachan and his mother or his father to ridicule him.

Maybe, just maybe, he could ask a hypothetical question? His mother did answer every questions that he ever asked, even the absolutely silly questions. And there was baachan too, who probably knew everything and anything! Excluding aliens like the Tok'ra and the Nox, she's one of the oldest person on Earth. Smiling to himself, the ninja in training had a plan.

+-1-+

Naruto slowly and cautiously snuck up to the dinning room. His memory of his mother's punishment still rang clear, even though she should be a different person from the one in his life right now.

He quickly spotted a blue jello parked right next to a blonde with a tablet in her hand. It was his baachan.

Naruto quickly scuttled himself to a seat right next to her.

"Baachan!" he yelled. His sudden anouncement caused Doctor Carter to jerk her tablet a little bit.

"Oh, you surprised me!" she said. "How you snuck past me?"

"Well, you were working that tablet."

"Oh dear, I must be losing my touch."

"I have a question."

"Yes, naru-chan?"

"Hypothetically speaking, how do you prove a world exists?"

"Pardon me?"

"Remember that movie last night?"

"Well..."

+-2-+

Treating the whole thing as a mere hypothetical, baachan blitzed her progeny with her stream of thought, and lo behold, there was that file in Naruto's inbox. Afterward, his mother pried away his baachan for some important adult things that Naruto didn't care about.

And there he was in his room, alone with his tablet, and along with baachan's complete plan on how to prove the existence of another world. In the coming days, Sam would provide him with annotation and improvement to the document. His great-grandmother is the kind of person who loved to do things like this, even for completely hypothetical scenarios and bizzare questions. He remembered that tube channel in which the doctor collaborated with another woman on mad science projects, like using shields as a method of propulsion.

Naruto smiled with absolute glee as he opened the document and began to read.

But his smile was very short lived. There were many steps into the plan, and there were many paths to chose from depending on what options was available to Naruto. The blonde, not knowing much of the ninja world he inhabited, had to cross off many options, and deferred many as well. Some of which were words he couldn't even pronounce, much less understand.

There was certainly no space agency he was aware of, nor was there's even space travel. He didn't know where the stargate was, which is the easiest way of proving the existence of a world. Technology, now that he thought of it, was very primitive. There were no computers or satellite dishes or anything like that. He certainly knew nothing of the political situation, save for the map of the world.

He didn't know half of the term listed and all the tasks seemed to involved multiple years of waiting. Time that Naruto absolutely had no patience for. The blonde then remembered his conversation with his baachan. It was very interesting, although half of the time he couldn't follow. His progenitor's enthusiasm outpaced her ability to explain things or his ability to understand things.

His enthusiasm for proving that the world exists were all gone by the time he reached the end of the document. He exited the document. Then he put the document over the trash can momentarily, but he thought the better of it. The document would stay, at least for now.

+-3-+

Doctor Samantha Carter looked at the chalkboard with a completely deflated face. Theoretical physics was not easy, nor had it ever been. Months and months can go by without any new discovery or insight. Ideas after ideas are discarded. This time, the equations just didn't work.

So, she turned her attention to a fun idea she had been working with Naruto. With a quick tap on her tablet, she opened up the document concerning a completely hypothetical scenario.

It was quite detailed in technology and the physics needed to work, in addition to the social aspects as well. However, she is a theoretical physicist, not an anthropologist. But her friend and colleague Doctor Jackson is. So she sent her document to the good doctor for a good checkover.

+-4-+

It was dinner time. Mom was gone due to work, so baachan took over dinner. Instead of cooking Japanese dishes, she cooked American dishes. Well, as 'American' it could be, as it is really an amalgamation of dishes from across the world.

Naruto didn't mind. The dishes were interesting and odd to say the least, and it didn't require chopsticks.

"So, Naru, did you read the document." Baachan was weird when speaking to Naruto that way. She didn't use honorific, but he knew that Americans don't use honorific the way Japanese do. So it's all good.

Naruto nodded.

"Well, do you like it?" Sam-baachan asked.

"Too complicated!"

"In what way?"

"There were so many steps that required so many years! How am I going to finish them all?"

"You made it sound like you're thinking about this for real."

"I am not!"

"Unlike the movie's writers, I went out of my way to specify all the steps that could be required. I even consulted other experts on the topic. Such a project, realistically, takes many years to do."

"And I have to learn a lot of stuff! You gave me lot of technobabble I have to figure out!"

"I am surprised that you even knew that word."

Naruto 'hrm' a little.

"A piece of advice for you, little Naru. Big major projects don't get accomplished the easy way or the fast way, usually. Or if they did, somebody did all the legwork beforehand. They get completed in little pieces over long period of time. When you solve a math problem, what you always do first?"

"You break it down into simpler components," Naruto automatically parroted.

"Exactly. This document listed a lot of steps and problems for you to solve first. Sometime, the document doesn't make sense, because nobody did it before and there were factors that are not considered. It's up to people to work it through. Although, the document will always have some gray unsolved areas, because such a situation is impossible."

"So, like a math problem, I work on part of it at one time?"

"That's correct!"

"Can I work on it now?"

Sam blinked several times.

"I mean, of course, it's not real. But some stuff you can do on Earth, right? You can explain to me some technobabble, right?" Of course, it goes without saying. Naruto is doing this for real. Baachan is doing it for fun.

"After you finish your plate."

Naruto looked at his plate. It wasn't even half way done.


End file.
